Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, police are seeking whoever is responsible for stabbing a horse to death earlier this week.

An Oklahoma City Police Department report indicated that an owner reported finding her horse covered with blood and dead in a stall on Dec. 14. Upon arrival, police personnel found the horse lying his left side and wearing a halter and lead rope. Blood covered the stall walls and floor, the report says. The horse had sustained a pair of puncture wounds on the right side of the neck.

The owner told police that before the incident she had turned the horse out in a pasture for the night without a halter on. She alleged that someone had haltered the horse, let the animal it back to the barn, tied him in the stall, and stabbed him to death. A veterinarian said the horse had sustained a total of six puncture wounds—four on one side and two on the other. The veterinarian said the horse bled out as a result of a stab wound to the jugular vein.

If caught, those responsible for the incident could face animal cruelty charges